I have fancied competing in a nonstop adventure race for a while now, and after completing the Coast to Coast race last year and seeing the promotional video for the Sting, I was keen for 2012 to be the year. The hardest part is getting a team together or joining the right team, so when Paul Noble suggested me to Tom Gibbs when they were a man down, I couldn’t have hoped for a better opportunity. A chance to race with and learn from Tom, Bruce Duncan and Nicola Macleod, who have all got a raft of big races and results to their name.

The decision to join the team for the Sting was made in April, so plenty of time to get the miles in and work on skills that I was lacking, particularly in the canoe. I was fairly confident that I would cope with any amount of biking that the event threw at us, as this was my strongest discipline, but I was certainly apprehensive about the very long foot stages, the canoe stages and the whole sleep deprivation thing. However, I was comforted by the fact that everyone I spoke to with experience in long adventure races said ‘don’t worry you’ll be fine’.

As the race approached, all was looking good. I had done a bit of canoeing and felt reasonably comfortable with that, had plenty of miles in my legs, and was feeling fairly fit. The rest of the team were going well too. According to facebook, Bruce was getting lots of running and biking in. Tom had won the Three Counties Tops fell race and was preparing for a fast Bob Graham round. Nicola had been to Kenya for several weeks and managed a trip up Mount Kenya, then returned to the UK to squeeze an off road iron man in followed by the West Highland way double (38 hours). Maybe I was slacking!

A month before the race I headed out to France for a family holiday and decided to do a Sky race for a bit of training. Whilst it was a fantastic race, the final 1800m decent took its toll and gave me ITB trouble which I wasn’t able to get rid of for the rest of the holiday. Even short runs aggravated my knee and with only 2 weeks to race day I was getting really concerned. However, after three sessions with Sue Reed’s magic hands and a lot of pain, I was back on it.

The week before the race saw the start of the gear faff. Thankfully, Tom sent out a very detailed spreadsheet with all kit requirements, going to the finest of details based on the information provided. This gear faff lasted for days, with packing, repacking and then a bit more repacking because I’d forgotten what I packed originally. Then when you think you’ve cracked it, there’s the food to sort – and what a lot of food you need. We had the usual mountain of bars, cakes and energy supplements, kindly supplied by Power the Machine.com, but the stuff that hit the spot was the savoury stuff – wraps, cheese and pickle sandwiches, baked potatoes and pizza. I would definitely go for more of this type of food in the future.

Whilst packing, we also checked out the numerous maps covering the race route. At first glance, the route looked fantastic, and there was no doubt about it – that middle Trek was going to be a beast. After getting our heads round the distances and doing some rough calculations it became apparent that there were going to be 2 key time outs where competitors would not be allowed on the water before specified times. Therefore, there was opportunity to make time on other teams and ‘bank’ an advantage.

So, with bags packed, canoes set up, maps marked up and a race strategy in mind we were all ready to start, but as an opener, there was the small matter of the prologue to warm us up. This was a relay event involving a run, orienteering section and 2 bike sections. Everyone agreed that it wasn’t worth pushing ourselves too hard on this as a few minutes lost in the prologue would have little impact on the overall race, but once the gun goes it is hard to stick to that plan! Tom led out on the run leg and came home first out of the competitive teams, handing the batton to Bruce, who executed the orienteering nicely and maintained our position. Although Tom looked comfortable on the run, it later turned out that he had pulled his quad and was struggling to walk – not a great start. Nicola took the 3rd leg and headed out of transition neck and neck with Mountain Hardwear’s Sally Ozanne. The pair of them took a slightly wrong line and then Nicola punctured. Again – not ideal. Nic managed a very quick fix though and only lost a few places. I then took on the last leg and tried way harder than I planned to but couldn’t resist when there were people ahead to reel in. Eventually I crossed the finish line about 1 min 30s behind the leaders Team Mountain Hardwear. This would mean we would be forced to have a 3 minute time out during the race. Three minutes would be nothing in the grand scheme of things but it certainly wasn’t the prologue that we had hoped for.

Chris setting of on the final leg of the prologue

On Monday morning, day 1 of the race, the weather was perfect and teams arrived at the stunning Stirling Castle for the start.

On the startline – 650km to go!

Tom’s leg had improved over night but was still a bit painful so he was a little apprehensive about it. At 08.45 the race got underway and we set off on a 10km run from the Castle to the Wallace Monument. Again, the plan was to take it steady, but we found ourselves at the front. After descending from the monument, Tom pulled up with stomach cramps and was forced to walk. Surely our luck had to change soon. A few hundred meters of walking seemed to sort him out and we were back running, slowly moving back through the field to eventually complete the run in about 50 minutes. A very quick transition then placed us in the lead as we headed out on the 80km mountain bike stage.

The first 30km of the bike stage were relatively flat and fast so we worked as a team, each taking a turn on the front. As we approached the first check point at Doune Castle, we could see a large group fairly close behind. It contained 3 or 4 teams including Mountain Hardwear and For Goodness Shakes. They were clearly benefiting from being in a much larger group but they only caught us once we reached Lake Monteith. I suspect it was a tactical move, to try and make us do more work. At Lake Monteith, teams had to row to an island and collect the next checkpoint. Bruce and Nicola took up the challenge of rowing whilst Tom and I had an easy ride and provided direction!

Rowing back from the island – Land Ahoy

We held our own in the boat and again had a fast transition, placing us back out on the bikes in the lead. This time Mountain Hardwear were a couple of minutes behind and only came into view on straight sections of track. The biking section headed off road at this point and with lots of tough climbs, there was going to be no place for teams to shelter in a big bunch. This is where we slowly started to open up a lead. We kept a steady pace on the climbs and were efficient on the technical muddy sections. After a couple of hours there was no sign of any chasing teams and it felt as though the pressure had lifted. The scenery and tracks were stunning, with a fast final decent down Glean Dubh to arrive in Killin.

Killin was the start of the first canoe section. Despite having portage trolleys with us we opted to carry our kit laden boats to the water, thinking it was only about 50 metres. This would be the last time we would carry our boats! The paddle was about 6km to the start of the Trek section and with a slight tail wind we completed it very quickly. We landed at about 5pm, a little ahead of our anticipated schedule, so, if we could move fast on the Trek section there was potential to complete it in the light. This became our challenge, as a fast circuit would reduce night navigation, provide greater rest (as the earliest we could start the next paddle was 3 am) and hopefully bank time against other teams. We opted for an anticlockwise circuit based on the fact that the final 5km would be easy running down a big track. Our pace was brisk, Bruce and Tom’s navigation in the clag was spot on and route choice was efficient which resulted in us getting back to the loch at about 10pm, so lights were only needed for the last 2km. Everything had gone to plan, and we had opened up a lead of about 1 hour 30 mins on Mountain Hardwear.

Chris putting on the shoes of choice for the trek

Tom heading back to transition after a great trek around Ben Lawers – Exposure lights only just turned on.

As we had expected to get some rest before going back on the water, we had carried a tent and sleeping bags in the boat, so after a quick feed, we (Nic) erected the tent and we squeezed the 4 of us in. I’m not sure that I actually managed to get any sleep that night. It was red hot, you couldn’t move, Bruce was snoring approximately 5 seconds after he lay down and my mind was racing. The alarm sounded at 2.15. Time to get sorted for a 3.00 start in the canoes.

We were first out of transition, off into the pitch black. It wasn’t long before Mountain Hardwear drew alongside us with some frantic paddling action. They had clearly been getting some coaching as they all had very short powerful strokes and changed sides frequently, which looked unusual but appeared to be effective. They made our paddling strokes seem very lazy. They slowly but surely disappeared into the night and every now and then we would catch a glimpse or hear them, spurring us on to reduce the time that they would make on us. 20km of loch paddling in the night seems to take a very long time. 2hrs 45 mins to be exact. We arrived at the end of Loch Tay at 5.45, approximately 5 minutes behind Mountain Hardwear, which we were happy with.

Chris and Tom arrive at Kenmore – after canoeing the length of Loch Tay

We were timed out until 6.00 before proceeding down the River Tay. I wasn’t sure what to expect on this section. I knew there would be rapids, but the size and difficulty was unknown. We encountered the first white water after a few minutes following MH downstream. It was all going well, until we hit the Chinese Bridge rapid. This looked significantly more fierce and half way down both of the MH boats had capsized. Oh shit – time to get cold and wet. Next, Bruce and Nic had taken on water and they were in. Tom and I got on our knees to keep our centre of gravity low and paddled as hard as we could, getting involved in the carnage of boats and bodies being bumped down the river. All of a sudden we were out the other end, and still in our boat – result! We broke out into an eddy close to Bruce and Nic and emptied our boats of water. Mountain Hardwear were on the other side of the river battling with much faster currents.

The rest of the trip was a little easier except for one final rapid which saw Nic and Bruce swim again, probably due to a weight imbalance which was corrected for the later paddle stage. MH caught us up as we came into transition. This time we used our trolleys to move the boats which made life a lot easier.

We were all keen to get stuck into the next bike section after the water, to try and get some warmth back into our bodies. Mountain Hardwear spent quite a bit more time in transition as they seemed to be suffering with the cold and we later found out that Ant Emmett had injured his leg when he fell out of his boat.

There were 3 back to back bike sections which amounted to approximately 200km. The first was only 40km but it packed a punch with a stiff climb into the mist on Farragon Hill. We soon arrived at the Falls of Bruar for some canyoning. Thankfully the sun had started to shine and we were actually quite warm and ready for a dip, especially when we had put wetsuits on. This section was included in race time so it was important to keep moving quickly and efficiently through the gorge. It was a spectacular venue with powerful waterfalls and deep plunge pools which teams had to negotiate through jumps, slides and abseils. We all managed to get through safely collecting the checkpoint at the end and despite it taking about 45 minutes, when we got to the finish, team MH were just arriving. This opened our lead up even more. Keen to maintain this lead we had a full change into dry bike kit and headed out on the next 90km bike section to Mar Lodge.

Nicola – checking out the first jump for the team!

The next biking section was one of the highlights of the trip for me. The singletrack along the side of Loch An Duin was incredible. Proper mountain biking with a remote feel to it. The route setting here was excellent, as despite the stage being extremely long, the distance was covered quickly due to good tracks and sections of tarmac. As we headed through Glen Feshie, the wind dropped and the midges appeared in clouds. There was no escape. The little blighters stuck to you and went down your jersey then proceeded to eat you. The next hike a bike section proved to be easier than expected and it wasn’t long before we started on a very long decent to our next transition at Mar Lodge.

The Stags Head Ballroom at Mar Lodge – covered in 3000 deer skulls

Mar Lodge is a spectacular venue with an impressive array of over 3000 deer skulls / antlers lining the ceiling – far too posh for a bunch of smelly adventure racers. We didn’t have much time to admire the surroundings before an orienteering map was presented to us. We were anticipating this stage to take about half an hour, as pre event information indicated that the course would be about 10km and we could split the controls between the team. So, we were a little surprised when we found out that the most distant checkpoints were approaching 10km away. The half an hour was revised to an estimated 2 hours, and checkpoints were split so that Tom and I completed a 16km loop which involved quite a bit of ascent and the rough terrain whilst Bruce and Nic covered an 18km slightly less hilly and more runable route. The split turned out to be a good choice as we arrived back in a similar time, and whilst it was disappointing to find out that the course was much longer, it would probably be in our favour as we completed the vast majority in the light whereas other teams would be forced to navigate in the dark.

The final section of the big bike leg was approximately 70km and started off fairly flat and fast, but the sting in the tail would be a savage climb over the 980m Mount Keen, the most easterly of all the Munros. When we left Mar Lodge, it was dark, the temperature had dropped and everyone was feeling quite tired. We weren’t tired enough to stop and rest, but we didn’t think that it would be wise to complete the full stage without stopping for a sleep. We aimed to ride through to Ballater which would take us to midnight and then keep our eyes open for a place to rest. The riding next to the river was very cold and we stopped to put more clothes on, then pushed on riding in a pack. For some reason we seemed to be descending for a long time which made us even colder and at times it felt as though we were doing well over 20 miles an hour. We started to get sleepy and the search for a place to get our heads down became a bit more urgent. We had spotted a building on the map called ‘half way hut’ which was still quite a long way away and quite a way up the Mount Keen climb. If this turned out to be locked or unsuitable, there were unlikely to be better options further up the climb, so finding shelter lower down was preferable. By chance, close to Glen Tanar we came across a farmer’s shed. It was fairly dilapidated and was full of pheasant feeders but it was dry and after moving a few things round we had enough space to lie down. With all of our clothes on and sharing the bothy bag / survival bags, we assumed the ‘spoon’ position and settled down for a well earned hour and a half of kip.

We resumed the biking again at 3.00 which worked out nicely, as the 2 and half hour climb up Mount keen placed us on the top just as it was getting light and we were rewarded with an awesome descent down to Glen Mark, bunny hopping drainage ditches all the way.

The sun was shining at the House of Mark and we had a very chilled out transition, making sure we had everything we needed for the monster 100km Trek. The marshalls provided us with a bacon butty and a brew which really hit the spot. Fully charged and encouraged by the fact that other teams hadn’t even left Mar Lodge yet we were ready for the onslaught. However, we were saddened to hear that Mountain Hardwear had decided to pull out due to Ant’s injury – it didn’t feel quite the same knowing that they weren’t chasing us. The next team to be concerned about was FGS, although we had a very comfortable lead.

The start of the trek involved some flattish landrover track, which we managed to jog, but this was soon curtailed when faced with the first steep and rough climb. The next 6 hours were probably some of the most difficult for me and the team seemed to go through a few low points. The going was very tough with few paths / trods and a lot of peaty, boggy, tussocky terrain. We were going slow and we didn’t seem to be able to pick up the pace. Five hours passed and we were still bashing through rough ground. Eventually, we reached the final checkpoint and stumbled across a good track which wasn’t marked on the map. We had a quick time out, feed and pep talk to try and gee us up a little bit before the final decent to the Spittal of Glenmuick. What a difference it made. Our pace picked up considerably and we bounded into the transition. We were then presented with fantastic news, which we had all been hoping for. Checkpoints 37 and 38 had been taken out, which cut out the final section of the trek. This again really lifted spirits.

The team on Lochnagar

Bruce – Scrambling up to the summit check point – (nice shoes)

On a high, we made quick work of the climb up Lochnagar and the subsequent scrambles which seemed to fly by. We moved onto Carn an Sagairt Mor to find the aircraft wing checkpoint by about 5pm and it became increasingly obvious that if we were reasonably quick we would get all the rest of the checkpoints before Glenshee in the light, which would make a big difference. Nicola had achilles pain and sore feet which was not helped by the rough terrain, so the next 4 hours were a really focussed effort. We opted for a long contour to checkpoint 30 to avoid a massive decent and climb and Bruce and Tom made a cracking job of the navigation. We caught up with Lastmiute.AR who were on the short course, which gave us a big morale lift and we completed the next section together before topping out on the final summit just before darkness set in. The weather had now deteriorated, with low cloud, rain and a strong biting wind. We found a contour line to bypass Glas Maol on the way to Glenshee. It was a sheep trod with a very steep slope below with no sign of the bottom. It certainly focussed the mind, as a slip onto your bum in waterproofs would probably see you reaching about 50 miles an hour into the black yonder before you had time to do anything. The next section was a good test of navigation, with even Bruce and Tom taking extra care. We now had about 4 teams with us, following our lights. Then, after a long decent down some ski runs, the lights of Glenshee ski station appeared. What a relief. Thankfully, Clive Ramsay was there serving hot food, so we each ordered a meal or two and had a good feed.

Nic – approaching Glenshee. Ready for some food….

It was hard to contemplate getting back out there and doing the final 30km of trek. We discussed options and all agreed that we would be moving significantly slower if we continued without rest, particularly considering the weather and the fact that there was 6 hours of darkness ahead of us. So, with little pressure from chasing teams, we chose to have a 2 ½ hour sleep and get going again at 3.00.

We all had fairly swollen feet / ankles and Bruce was suffering from trench foot, so when we woke it was hard to get going again. A few pain killers soon sorted that out though. The weather had improved and the stars were now shining, so the climb out of Glenshee was very pleasant. We made good time to the first 2 checkpoints, but again the going was very tough. Once the sun rose, Bruce had a sleepy patch and was found walking with his eyes closed. I soon felt very sleepy too and resorted to my first caffeine pill. Tom was going strong, as ever, and made some excellent route choices to efficiently bag 3 Munros in quick succession. We topped out on our last peak at about 10.00 And then made the rough decent to the transition. For some reason, this last decent finished my ankles off and I really struggled. Thankfully, they lasted until the end of the trek.

Our bike boxes were waiting for us at Creag Loisk and all we had to do now was a 40km ride to take us back to Grandtully, where we would be timed out until 6.00 on Friday morning before getting on the water for our final canoe section. Bearing in mind it was about noon on Thursday when we finished the Trek, we were lined up to have a very long rest in Grandtully. The ride through the Forest of Clunie was beautiful with purple heather as far as the eye could see. Normally, the riding would feel easy but with tired heads, the rutted track and muddy sections made holding a line technically challenging. We collected the 2 checkpoints, opting to go in and out for 41, and then a swift decent took us on to the road where we resumed our tight team riding formation for the last 10km. Throughout the ride we discussed what we would do with all the time we had before the canoe section. Obviously we would eat and rest but the tight squeeze in the tent didn’t really appeal. Perhaps there would be some accommodation in Grandtully that we could check into?

We arrived in Grandtully at about 16:00, and as soon as we had checked in, Nic pedalled up the road to check availability in the local accommodation. She returned with a smile on her face – it was our lucky day – The Inn on the Tay had just had a cancellation and a room that slept 4 was available. We sorted our gear and had a very pleasant evening in the restaurant before getting a good nights kip.

Despite having a great sleep, the alarm at 5:00 was a rude awakening. We headed down to the transition to find chaos, as teams were still arriving. Gear was strewn all over the place and there were some very tired looking people. We loaded our boats onto our trolleys and towed them effortlessly to the start of the paddle section, passing teams grunting and struggling to carry their boats between 4 people.

Having managed to stay within the boat on the first canoe stage, the pressure was on for the 60km stretch down to Perth. Particularly, as many people suggested that the rapids were more severe on this section. Bruce and Nic swapped positions in their boat, so that the weight was in the back, which meant that the pressure was on for Bruce to steer them down the river. We took a fairly steady pace down the river and arrived at the orienteering leg safely. The orienteering was a very short course to break up the paddle. My ankles were very swollen and not keen to run, so we walked the first section whilst Nic provided me with a concoction of painkillers. 15 minutes later, the pain had eased and I was able to start jogging (sort of). The rest of the course went smoothly and we returned to the boats after collecting the 3 checkpoints. Back in the boats, many of the short course teams had passed through, opting to miss out the orienteering. This gave us teams to chase down and a focus for the remaining 40km of paddling. We slowly passed teams, and executed all the rapids well, arriving in Perth at about 13.00 without any swims.

Making life easy – why carry your boat when you have portage trolleys

Another portage and it was back on the bikes for the final 60km stage. This was all on tarmac and very little climbing so we were able to push the pace on. Bruce knew of a nice farm shop just outside Perth which apparently sold very tasty ice cream, and our route went right passed it. Should we stop for a quick ice cream? – why not! We pulled in and bought a litre tub of ice cream with 4 spoons and sat in the car park devouring it getting a few strange looks from passers-by.

No time for slacking, we got back on the bikes and adopted the 4 person time trial position. For some reason I was feeling fairly fresh on the bike, so we notched it up a gear and nailed it. Two teams came into view in the distance, so we reeled them in and passed them at high speed. The miles flew by and before we knew it we only had one last climb to do and one team ahead of us. We passed those guys near the summit of the climb and shortly after the Wallace Monument came into view. What a welcome sight. A swift descent lead us into Stirling for the cruise into the finish where we were welcomed by a crowd of race organisers / supporters. We dropped our bikes and mustered up just enough energy to jog over the finish line in a total race time of approximately 85 hours.

The winners cross the finish line!

What a journey. The route was fantastic – remote, picturesque, exciting ….. and being part of the adidas team was a pleasure. We all got on brilliantly and were totally focussed on the job in hand. I loved it – what’s next?

We’d all like to thank our many sponsors for making our journey as easy as it could. adidasTERREX for providing great kit. Exposure Lights for allowing us to move at speed through the dark nights, OMM for our fantastic rucksacks, Powerthemachine.com for our energy needs, Nordenmark for our great map boards, Paramo for keeping us toasty in the canoe, Windermere Canoe and Kayak for the canoes and amazing paddles, Salewa for head protection, Nikwax for keeping us dry, and Schwalbe for keeping our bikes rolling!

Also, we’d like to thanks Open Adventure for putting on a great race and Clive Ramsey for the amazing food at Glenshee.

Standing on the start line of the final stage of 5, on equal points with Team Mountain Hardware, knowing that whoever is first back is the winner. Kind of puts the pressure on a little!

Poring over the maps for the first running stage and mountain bike stage

This past weekend Nick, Nicola, Matt Martindale and myself were over in Coniston to take part in the 2 day race. A hark back to the old ACE races as put on by the legendary Phil Humphreys a number of years ago. It is a great format, 5 stages over the 2 days, a 2hr navigational hill run, a 4 ½hr navigation mountain bike stage, a 90minute night navigation run, then the next day a 90minute kayak and then a trail run to finish the race off, along with the competitors!

Saturday dawned bright, but cool. After a briefing, weather forecast, and map give out, we headed up the road to Elterwater, where we would start the 2hr running navigation stage and then the 4 ½hr mountain bike stage.

The run went really well, 15 controls to be visited in any order, with 3 of them dummies, so you couldn’t plan too much before the start. We chose what we felt was a good route, the plan was to get all controls, but with options to drop a few if we were running late, penalties would apply getting harsher and harsher the later you were.

Matt and Bruce checking the next control on the side of Loughrigg

Running well and navigating smoothly we got around one half of the map in good time, then set off around the second loop, it was looking like we could do it, but it was going to be tight. Coming off the hill I was shouting out the minutes, luckily it was all downhill, and we were going to make it. With 1 minute to spare we were finished, banking 500points plus a bonus point for finishing early. A great start to the weekend.

The mountain bike stage looked good, some great riding to be had, but also a good distance to cover. Matt had a good look at the route, and we all agreed with the plan, thinking that it was going to be close to clearable.

We set off well, but soon found that the first few controls were taking a long time, we discussed dropping a few 10 point controls, but decided to go for them. This ultimately cost us dear. As we headed south we were slow along the roads, and then lost time on some of the many technical downhills. Once we hit the south, we were committed to a set route, this again took longer than planned, and left us with a 10+km ride along the road back to Coniston. It was going to be tough with 20minutes to go! We pushed hard, but lost time, getting back 8 minutes late, costing us 25points, but more crucially we had had to miss a lot of high value controls, costing us dearly.

We found out that after the first 2 stages For Goodness Shakes (FGS), Mountain Hardware (MHW) and ourselves were very close in points, the night nav was going to be crucial. It was turning into a great battle.

Heading up to Tarn Hows as part of the tricky night navigation stage

We set off well on the night nav stage, but I messed up our second control, and was lucky to relocate close to its location. We pushed on hard, skipping a 30point control in favour of a 40point, but sadly we failed to find this, and with time running tight we had to bail out and push for the finish. Again we were slightly late back, but managed to get the top score of the night amongst the teams, meaning that overnight we lay in 2nd place, only 1 point behind FGS and 3 points ahead of MHW!!

A good nights sleep was had, and with an early start in the kayaks we got prepped before the briefing. The weather had also taken a turn for the worse. The wind had picked up and the kayak section on Coniston Water was going to be very interesting.

The teams set off at 30second intervals, MHW taking the lead, and luckily for us they led us into every control, helping us shave vital seconds off our time. FGS were sat in behind us for a while, but as the wind and waves took their toll on already tired bodies they dropped back a few minutes. Racing hard to the line we punched, knowing it was very close to the wire, finding out later that we were less than 30seconds late, -2points to us. For MHW though it was a different story, they just finished inside the time, gaining a bonus point, levelling us on points.

It was all to play for on the trail run, a tough run up over the Old Man of Coniston, Swirl How and back to the finish.

We again set off just behind the Mountain Hardware team, a target for us to aim for as we headed up to the summit of the Old Man of Coniston. Slowly we reeled them in, but they must have taken some super sweeties at the top as they took off so fast we could hardly see them.

Heading up the Old Man - A tough final trail run

The head wind along the top was amazing, blowing me clean off my feet at one point, Nicola was suffering in the wind, and it was hard work to shield her and stay upright.

We pressed on to the top of Swirl How, sheltering off the ridge from the ferocious wind, popping out on the top to see Mountain Hardware disappear off down the Band, starting the long decent back to Coniston.

The ridge was rocky, and with MHW all being pretty decent fell runners, we watched them fly off down the hill side. As we ran down behind them, we could all see them gaining more and more time on us, and any thought of us beating them went out of the window right there. Our race wasn’t over though, we still had FGS somewhere behind us, so we couldn’t ease off till the finish line.

We crossed the line about 7 minutes behind Mtn Hardware, they had taken a well-deserved win by about 30 points, it had been close all weekend, and the 30 points could have been found anywhere, one control on the night nav that we ditched in preference to a 40pointer we didn’t find, or any number of different routes on the mountain bike, or being back in time on the stages.

All in all it was a great weekend, good to dust of the team racing shoes again, to have a brilliant social weekend with lots of great mates, and to have a brilliant head to head competition all weekend with Mountain Hardware and For Goodness Shakes. Its always hard to come 2nd, but we have lots to go away and think about. Mtn Hardware have been doing a lot of team training, and it showed, so hats off to them for working so hard, and seeing it pay off.

Mountain Hardware 1st, adidasTERREX 2nd, For Goodness Shakes 3rd

Thanks to Open Adventure, Tom Gibbs, Paul Noble and countless others for putting on a brilliant weekend too.

Congratulating Tom on a brilliant race

Our sponsors were also great this weekend, providing top class clothing to keep us warm and protected in the Lake District weather, keeping us fuelled and hydrated, and able to compete for the win.

With the season of the longer races almost upon us, its time to start thinking about what to eat and drink during those long days and nights.

Nick has written this article for the adidasTERREX Swift and Sting events this year.

You are what you eat? perhaps not!! by Nick Gracie

Getting nutrition and hydration right is a key element of any adventure race. With expedition (multi day) racing there is a need to consume large numbers of calories, on average you will be burning between 8,000 – 12,000 calories per day – depending on the activity, the intensity and also the weather.

There are 3 general rules to expedition racing nutrition:

Eat little but often

Keep properly hydrated the whole race

Eat a balanced and varied mixture of foods.

In multi day races it is important to eat real food as well as the normal stable of energy drinks, gels and bars. Try and keep to a bit of a routine if possible – have something more substantial for breakfast, maybe a sandwich for lunch and in the evening a larger portion of food.

There is always going to be a trade off between eating well and going fast. Generally the faster you race the more your diet may suffer. Preparing and eating proper meals takes time and energy. If you are on a long bike leg or Kayak stage you have little options but to eat bars, gels, sweets and maybe the odd sandwich, anything else will just force you to stop and slow you down. On the trekking legs it is a lot easier to eat real food as you are moving slower and you have both hands free to sort things out.

Eating in transition is an option but if you want to race competitively you need to avoid it turning into a picnic. Transitions should always be done as quickly as possible and not viewed as a time to stop, have a rest and eat a three-course meal. There are always things to do in transition but there is no reason why you can’t eat as you sort your admin. Things like tubs of pasta, Pringles, bananas, tinned fruit, fruit juices and yogurt are all good things to scoff down, as they are heavy and bulky to carry on the course.

An expedition race is never going to be a gourmet culinary feast – you need to get into the mindset that eating is purely a process of fueling your body. A race is never going to replicate what you eat in a normal day; eating food becomes a real function rather than a pleasure.

Sports Nutrition:

Sports nutrition is generally well packaged and easy to use, contains complex slow release carbohydrates and numerous vitamins and minerals. Although a cereal bar from a supermarket may be similar to a specific energy bar like a Clif Bar it is very different – a cereal bar will contain high levels of white sugar which will give you a very quick high and an equally quick low – you body will spike with energy in between hits – energy bars release energy much slower so you have a more consistent energy level which gives a much better performance. It’s the same with comparing a jelly baby to a Clif Shot blok – although they appear similar the ingredients are very different. General foods found in supermarkets are designed for the general public or as treats and not as energy sources for athletes pushing there bodies to the limits.

That said trying to eat 8,000 calories a day is not easy so there is no harm in eating sweets, chocolates and other supermarket food just don’t plan to survive on it.

Energy drinks are the best way to absorb complex carbohydrates quickly into the body however in multi day races they do have the drawback of having a very sweet feel in the mouth which can cause ulcers which are good to avoid in a race. I would recommend using energy drinks sparingly and probably best saved for kayak / canoe stages when it is the easiest way to keep energy levels up while not slowing down progress. It is the one discipline of adventure racing that really limits your ability to eat well. I would recommend eating as much proper food pre and post paddle stages and then whilst paddling use energy drinks in a bladder or just scoff down a handful of energy sweets or a gel – keep it quick as every time you stop paddling you lose time! The best drink I have personally found for long races is High 5 4:1 drink (4 parts Carbs to 1 part Protein) which helps maintain and rebuild muscles as well as providing good energy levels.

Protein recovery bars and drinks are great for long races and I would aim to eat a protein bar at least every 6 hours during a race. Protein drinks such as For Goodness Shakes are also very good, as aside from tasting great they have a very milky texture to them, which is a welcome change to other foods, you will be eating which are generally sweet or salty. When you stop at night for a sleep or another rest that is a great time to get some protein in as it helps rebuild your muscles as they rest.

Meal times:

Cereal / Muesli – made up in a pot or bag with powdered milk or recovery drink powder – add water and you have a solid breakfast. You can eat this while trekking but forget it on the bike or kayak.

Sandwiches/Wraps: make sure they are moist so they are easy to eat – keep in simple cheese and ham etc – don’t worry about the sundried tomatoes or rocket!!

Pasta / Potato salad – this is heavy to carry but can be eaten quickly in transitions – it will help replenish carbohydrate stores but it will only keep for a few days so towards the end of a longer race this is less of an option.

Meal replacement drinks: super easy to consume and quick to make up: For Goodness Shakes and Peronin are both excellent. These can also be used whilst kayaking and biking.

Hot Food:

If you do decide to stop to make hot food – have a good cooker that heats up food fast so there is less hanging around – keep it simple – soup or noodles as they are easy to eat and quick to cook. Hot food can give the team a real boost especially if the weather is cold and your bodies need warming up. If you have the luxury off passing a shop, café or fast food establishment that you can get hot or even fresh real food from it is worth considering, it will no doubt waste time but the benefit of some good food may have very beneficial effects physically and mentally.

During the adidas TERREX race we will be making hot food available at all the overnight transitions areas. An excellent local caterer will provide this and it will be a combination of potato’s, pasta, soup and bacon rolls etc. This will be a great thing to take advantage of and should help with your overall nutrition strategy.

Supplements:

As your diet will suffer during a race and also your body is under fairly extreme pressures and sometimes environments depending on the weather and temperature a few supplements may help you prolong the body deteriorating and also give you better energy levels. High levels of Vitamins and especially Vitamin C can be good – multi vitamins and Berocca work well for me. Creatine could also be used as it allows your body to recover faster. – there is a lot of information out there about Creatine so best to make your own mid up about using it.

Caffeine:

In moderate doses caffeine can substantially increase the absorption of carbohydrate and fluids. Caffeine also stimulates the body’s nervous system: reducing fatigue, making you more alert, increasing your concentration and reducing the feeling of effort during exercise. If you are sensitive to caffeine and experience symptoms such as hand tremors or heart palpitations I would recommend not to use caffeine. Caffeine can be taken in many sports drinks, tablets or drinks such as Red Bull. In the middle of the night when the body most wants to sleep then caffeine can become essential if you need to push through a stage. It can also help out one of the team if they are feeling tired and the rest are not.

Hydration

Staying properly hydrated can be critical to a successful race. It is important to keep drinking the whole race and also to use electrolytes. Water on its own is good but if you add in electrolytes the water is absorbed quicker into your body and there is less waste – meaning you don’t have to drink as much and you won’t need to go to the loo as much (both saving time). Electrolytes are also helpful in avoiding dehydration and cramp. The easiest best way to take electrolytes on is through products like High 5 ZERO – simple easy to use tablets which you can drop into bladders or water bottles.

Conclusion

You basically need to eat a hell of a lot in a long race, probably three times as much as you would in a normal day without the luxury of a kitchen or restaurant. Therefore set you watch alarm to go off every hour to make sure you eat and everyone in the team should always be making sure everyone else is eating and drinking, even forcing them to eat if they don’t really want to – try to avoid getting hungry as by then it can be too late. Eat some really good quality food and there is no harm in throwing in some fatty junk, as you will need ever calorie. Four days before the race starts you can begin fattening up a little as it will have very little effect on your performance but it will just give you some extra reserves to call on during the race. Little but often is the key.